Love Runs Deeper Than Blood
by ThroughTheShiningDark
Summary: A tiger kidnapped and tortured as a cub is returned to a wilderness unknown to him. When he encounters another feline and they share their life stories, does their friendship become more than it seems? -not a TLK story!-
1. Prologue

"Good riddance!" I roared to the skies, watching the thing I'd learned to call a helicopter fly away. I turned away from it, lashing my tail from side to side. Stupid twolegs… How dare they do this to me!  
I looked around me; forest… That was all I could see. A cool drop of water landed on the tip of my tail. I shook it off and gazed up into the lush canopy. My ears swiveled up in surprise. A tiny little creature was staring down upon me; its big brown eyes seemed glazed over with shock. It waved its black and white ringed tail in the air and made a squeaky hooting noise. I chuffed, amused, and began to walk in the other direction. I took one last glance at the odd creature, and wondered if I looked as odd to it as it did to me. It hooted again and leaped further into the treetops. I blinked and stood still for a few heartbeats, my eyes fixed on the spot where it disappeared, before continuing on.  
I wandered through the steamy forest for what was left of the sunlight, before finally settling in the low branch of a tree. My eyes flickered across my line of vision, searching for any movement. My eyelids drooped, heavy with sleep, though I fought to keep them open. Sleep was going to win me over at any moment.  
"No, no," I whispered. "I can't fall asleep. What if the twolegs tie me to their cold silvery web again? What if they shut me in?" I mentally shivered at the thought. Cold bars clashing. The poking and prodding. The lights. The noise!  
I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for those stupid twolegs. If they hadn't killed my mother. If they hadn't taken me from my home. If they hadn't trapped me inside that silver web and taunted me with my prey on the other side… Then I would be back in my homeland. Back where I belong. But of course that couldn't be changed.  
A tear slipped from my closed eyes and I wiped it away with my tail.  
I was here, wherever they had put me, and a tiger could only change his future, not his past.


	2. Chapter 1

I awoke to the gentle beams of sunlight streaming onto my face and the many warbling calls of birds pouring into my ears. I blinked and slapped my tongue against the roof of my mouth as I forced my hind legs to push me up and keep a hold on the branch. I stretched out my forepaws and yawned, letting out a roar as I did so. As I stood, my head brushed against some leaves. My lips pulled back, showing my teeth, and a snarl rose in my throat. I'd just about had enough of the whole world and was already angry enough, but for stripe's sake! Did every leaf and twig have to hate me too? I sighed and leaped down from the tree, my heavy paws crushing the vegetation and insects they landed on. But why should I care?

"When has the world not been cruel to me?" I roared to the sun, demanding an answer. "When?" My thoughts flowed with memories of my past. The first of which, was my first encounter with Them, the twolegs…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"_Mother?" A young tiger cub called out. He was surrounded by flames and smoke and was having difficultly breathing. "Mother!" A tigress leaped through the flames and rushed toward the cub._

"_Shh! I'm here, my son. Quiet now." The tigress took the cub in her mouth and glanced behind her warily before running once again through the fire and leaping up into a tree. She scrabbled for a foothold and set her son on a branch. _

"_Son, listen to me," she said. "They are coming for me soon. Do not come down for me. No matter what. I don't want any son of mine to be Taken by Them. Please, son. Promise me you won't come down until the next moon rises. It's too soon for you to be Taken."_

_The little wide-eyed cub nodded and put a paw on his mother's chest. His mother gently licked his face and jumped down, hearing Them crashing through the undergrowth. She rushed into a ring of fire, surrounded by Them. Her claws dug into the earth beneath her paws and she roared, flicking her lowered tail. Then They advanced upon her, jabbing her with long sharp sticks. She swatted at them, not wanting to go down without a fight. _

_Whilst she battled with a wounded one of Them, another came behind her with a short, sharp metal object, a knife. The tigress sensed danger and turned around… only to have the knife sliced through her throat. Her eyes grew wide as she froze in midair and fell to the ground. The cub watched in horror as They surrounded his mother. The mother and son locked eyes. The tigress took one last labored breath and her eyes fell closed. Realizing she was dead, the little cub couldn't help but cry out. One of Them heard the cub and pointed at him. The rest of Them turned to see the little cub in the tree and moved to surround him… _


	3. Not a Chapter, a poem

**[A/N: After writing both LRDTB and this poem, I've realized that the poem works wonderfully with the flashback in the first chapter of LRDTB. The situation of a mother tigress wishing the best for her cubs as she is attacked by poachers is one that brings me to tears. The extinction of an entire species is not worth getting money or 'wine'. It's not worth anything at all! I would give ANYTHING to be able to even have the CHANCE to see a wild tiger, or to save one's life. And here, my friends, is a very special poem written by yours truly.]**

_**Whisper in the Water**_

Your paws thunder through a calm, knowing stream

The water's of which I know a tale

A tale of a whisper and scream

A true story behind a veil

Your running kicks up beads of life

They stain your marvelous coat

A coat of black and orange and white

An existence to keep a species afloat

You hear something in the water

A cruel sound, a whisper

You hear the whisper in the water

And you long for hope, just a flicker

You scramble unknowingly toward your fall

Precious cubs in your mind

You wanted to be there through it all

To see all they would find

The mark of the king upon your brow

You race through the unending dark

Death closes in on you now

No hope, not a faraway spark

You hear the whisper in the water

And you roar in fright

You are the whisper in the water

The one who disappears in the night

-Kelsey H. (May 20-26, 2009)


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